Dispensing apparatus delivering articles to raised stationary article support



March 21, B. T. WOOD DISPENSING APPARATUS DELIVERING ARTICLES TO RAISED STATIONARY ARTICLE SUPPORT Filed June 17, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 jvl/sA/rok.

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March 21, 1967 B. "r. WOOD 3,3102% DISPENSING APPARATUS DELIVERING ARTICLES TO RAISED STATIONARY ARTICLE SUPPORT Filed June 17, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l3 7 P] l// l/I l I A .ZVVEN r02.

3,310,200 DISPENSING APPARATUS DELIVERING ARTICLES TO RAISED STATIONARY ARTICLE SUPPORT Burl T. Wood, Lindsay, Calif, assignor to Lindsay Ripe Olive Company, Lindsay, Calif., a corporation of California Filed June 17, 1965, Ser. No. 464,627 3 Claims. (Cl. 221192) This invention relates to a device for individually dispensing articles such, for example, as olives, cherries, prunes, pickled onions and other prepared or cured edible food articles of a generally solid nature which can be retained in a brine or syrup depending upon the type of article.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a dispenser of the character identified which comprises a liquid impervious receptacle for containing the food articles in the liquid, the receptacle being normally closed for hygienic purposes but with a swingable door which opens for dispensing individual articles of food, the latter being seized individually by a scoop moving through the liquid against the mass of food particles and swept upwardly toward the door which is opened and the olive or other food particle is ejected through the passage into a shelf whereupon it may be grasped by the consumer.

It is a further object of the invention to provide in a device of this character a generally transparent plate closing of the passage and including in the plate assembly a transparent door pivoted on a horizontal axis, and to provide a plunger and linkage mechanism with a part accessible exteriorly of the receptacle for manual operation to shift the scoop from a vertical dormant position to a substantially horizontal discharge position where the outer end is adjacent the shelf.

A further object of this invention is to provide a guard for the accessible part of the plunger, the guard being of a configuration partially enclosing the plunger leaving ample room for the plunger to be depressed by a thumb or finger, but making it impossible to slam the plunger down as by the palm of the hand, which might result in damage to the mechanism and also result in ejecting an olive or other foo-d article to a distance rather than rolling it onto the shelf.

A further object is to provide in a device of this character, a prod as a part of the scoop mechanism, which precedes the spoon part of the mechanism and is disposed in advance of the olive or other article to impinge against the door and open the door prior to delivery of the food particle.

These and. other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the description which follows taken in conjunction with the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the dispending apparatus.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the same.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the same.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical elevation of the scoop mechanism as seen from the side.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4, showing the scoop and actuating mechanism therefor shifted from the dormant position of FIGURE 4 to the delivering position.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary section somewhat enlarged view illustrating the mounting of the scoop mechanited States Patent BfiHLZW Patented Mar. 21, 1967 nism and means for interlocking the base section and cover section of the receptacle.

The dispenser 10 comprises a base section 11 and cover 12. The base section is mounted on a flat base member 13. The two sections together form a receptacle wherein the base member 11 defines a bowl 14 which is preferably of true hollow spherical configuration. The cover 12 is hollowed out as at 15 to provide operating room for part of the linkage hereinafter described in more detail. The sections 11 and 12 are preferably made of a light weight plastic material, relatively thick for thermal insulation qualities and for other mechanical purposes which will be noted, and finished with a liquid impervious skin on the lining of the bowl and of the cavity 15, as well as on other exposed surfaces.

The wall 16 of the base section 11 terminates in a rim 17. This lies in a generally fiat plane except at the front where it is depressed. as at 18, FIGURE 2, to form a recessed shelf 19. Communicating at the lowest point of the shelf 19 is an inclined channel 20 provided through the wall 16 for return of liquid to the bowl.

The cover 12 is provided with a surface 21 complementary to the rim 17 and with a flange 21a which seats on the inside of the section 11 and cooperates in properly orienting the two sections 11 and 12.

The surface 21 is interrupted at the front to provide an opening 22 which in conjunction with the depression 18 forms a circular passage from the interior of the receptacle to the exterior thereof.

This passage is closed ofi by a plate 25 preferably transparent, which includes a permanently mounted section 26 and a swingable door 27. The door 27 is suspended from a horizontal hinge pin 30, the ends of which are mounted in the stationary section 26. The upper edge of the door and the adjacent edge of the stationary section are beveled, as shown at 31, so that they cooperate to form a stop to prevent the door from swinging inwardly beyond the general plane of the plate 25. The lower edge of the door 27 also preferably is beveled, as at 32, to rest upon the upper surface of the shelf 19. The mounting of the plate assembly is in the cover section 12.

The flange 21a of the cover section 12 is augmented by a boss at each side to provide mounting means for a sleeve 36. A second sleeve 37 is disposed in the base section 11 in the region of the rim 17 and is coaxial with the sleeve 36. This enables the sections 11 and 12 to be secured together by a sliding pin 38 which is withdrawn, as shown in FIGURE 8, but advanced as shown in FIGURE 7, being in the locking position in the latter figure. Conveniently, an O-ring 39 may be disposed in a recess at the end of the sleeve 37 to provide friction against the pin 38 for holding the pin in the locking position.

A scoop member 40 includes a handle section 41 with a hub 41a rotatably mounted at one end on a shaft 42, the ends of which shaft are fixedly mounted in the sleeves 36, as for example, by epoxy cement. At the other end of the handle is a spoon-like member 43, preferably perforated to avoid capture of liquid, and to facilitate movement of the spoon-like member through the liquid in the bowl. The movement of the scoop member on the axis of shaft 42 enables the spoon-like end 43 to closely traverse the curved surface of the bowl 14 from the bottom thereof to the discharge passage. A prod 45 which may be simply in the form of a stiff wire extends from the handle adjacent the spoonlike member at an angle forwardly from the latter as viewed in FIGURES 4 and 5, the function of which is to impinge upon the door 27 and open it rather than to rely upon contact of the food article for performing that function.

A bell crank element St) extends from the hub 41a, this bell crank element being p-ivotally connected to an arm 51 which in turn is pivotally connected to the lower end 52 of a plunger assembly 53. This plunger assembly includes a sleeve 54 mounted obliquely in the wall of the cover section 12 and providing a slide bearing for a plunger rod 55, topped by a thumb button 56 and provided with a stop collar 56a near the other end; and a compression spring 57 is interposed between the thumb button and the upper end of the sleeve 54. Depressing the thumb button 56 causes rotation of the bell crank element 50 and consequent arcuate movement of the scoop member 41 in an anti-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURES 4 and 6. Removal of pressure from the thumb button 56 frees the spring for action to return the rod 55 to its outermost position and consequently the scoop 40 to its substantially vertical position.

There is preferably included a guard member 60 in the form of a fragment of a cylinder, mounted in the wall body of the cover section 12 adjacent to and partially encircling the protruding portion of the plunger assembly. Thus, the thumb or a finger may be readily used to depress the button 56, but it is impossible for a person to strike a severe blow against the button, as by the palm or heel of the hand, the latter being objectionable for various reasons, partly because it might tend to damage the mechanism and also it might tend to eject an olive or other article being dispensed to a distance well beyond the shelf 19.

As an example only and not by way of limitation, olives have been illustrated as the food article to be dispensed. These or any other articles which can be handled in this device should be in a liquid, not only to preserve them but to render them readily movable within the bowl as opposed to being packed therein. Assuming that olives are being dispensed, depression of the thumb button 56 will cause the scoop member 40 to move through the body of olives in the bowl and all but one olive will fall away as the spoon-like end 43 sweeps upwardly toward the passage, the prod 45 will open the door 27 and the spoon-like element will come to a stop approximately on the oblique plane 61 of the inner portion of the shelf 19, whereupon the olive will roll down into the lowermost area of the shelf, as shown in FIGURE 6. Any drops of liquid moving with the olive will be returned to the bowl through the channel 20.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of my invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for individually dispensing solid articles comprising: a closed receptacle formed of walls imperv ous to liquid and having a passage extending from the interior to the exterior thereof, a shelf contiguous to said passage for reception of an article and accessible from the exterior of the receptacle, a door swingably mounted in said passage, a scoop member shiftably mounted within said. receptacle to propel an article from the interior of the receptacle through the passage, past the door, for deposit upon the shelf, means connected with the scoop member for actuating the same, said means being accessible from the exterior of the receptacle for manual operation, said receptacle comprising a bowl with a circular slope from the bottom to the passage, the scoop member comprising a handle pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis, and an outer spoon-like end disposed to traverse the circular slope of the bowl, and a liquid drain channel leading from the shelf into the bowl.

2. A device for individually dispensing solid food articles of round or oblong shape comprising: a closed receptacle formed of walls impervious to liquid and having a passage extending from the interior to the exterior thereof, the lower interior portion of the receptacle comprising a bowl with a circular slope from the bottom to the passage, a dished shelf contiguous to said passage for reception of an article and accessible from the exterior of the receptacle, a transparent plate assembly closing oft" said passage and including a door hinged on a horizontal axis and swingable outwardly, stop means preventing the door from swinging inwardly beyond the plane of the plate assembly, a scoop member to propel an article from the bowl of the receptacle through the passage past the door for deposit upon the shelf, said sooop member comprising a handle pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis and an outer spoon-like end disposed to traverse the circular slope of the bowl, a prod, adjacent said last name-d end adapted to impinge upon the door and open it, the handle including a bell crank element, a plunger slidably mounted in a wall of the receptacle and connecting means between one end of the plunger and the bell crank element and said plunger having an extension on the outside of the receptacle for manual operation, a compression spring acting on the extension to yieldably hold the handle in a generally vertical position, a guard adjacent said extension partially enclosing the same to protect it against abusive handling, and a liquid drain channel leading from the shelf into the bowl.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 in which the receptacle comprises a base section defining the bowl, and a cover section, and the bowl is of hollow spherical configuration.

References (lited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 541,702 6/1895 Townsend et al. 221274 X 928,230 7/1909 \Villiamson 222357 X 1,034,318 7/1912 Sobretto et a1. 221274 X 1,301,301 4/1919 Nishioka 221-274 X 2,119,224 5/1938 Dahlin 221-254 2,129,322 9/1938 Hakanson 22l274 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,076,642 4/1954 France.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR INDIVIDUALLY DISPENSING SOLID ARTICLES COMPRISING: A CLOSED RECEPTACLE FORMED OF WALLS IMPERVIOUS TO LIQUID AND HAVING A PASSAGE EXTENDING FROM THE INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR THEREOF, A SHELF CONTIGUOUS TO SAID PASSAGE FOR RECEPTION OF AN ARTICLE AND ACCESSIBLE FROM THE EXTERIOR OF THE RECEPTACLE, A DOOR SWINGABLY MOUNTED IN SAID PASSAGE, A SCOOP MEMBER SHIFTABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID RECEPTACLE TO PROPEL AN ARTICLE FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE RECEPTACLE THROUGH THE PASSAGE, PAST THE DOOR, FOR DEPOSIT UPON THE SHELF, MEANS CONNECTED WITH THE SCOOP MEMBER FOR ACTUATING THE SAME, SAID MEANS BEING ACCESSIBLE FROM THE EXTERIOR OF THE RECEPTACLE FOR MANUAL OPERATION, SAID RECEPTACLE COMPRISING A BOWL WITH A CIRCULAR SLOPE FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE PASSAGE, THE SCOOP MEMBER COMPRISING A HANDLE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS, AND AN OUTER SPOON-LIKE END DISPOSED TO TRAVERSE THE CIRCULAR SLOPE OF THE BOWL, AND A LIQUID DRAIN CHANNEL LEADING FROM THE SHELF INTO THE BOWL. 